Best Ways To Upgrade Your Home Office
Working from home is a luxury that you will most definitely enjoy. Being able to stay within the comforts of your own home while getting that paycheck still is nothing but a great blessing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to stay indoors. And with the recent presidential address aired on April 24th, everyone is advised to observe and comply with an additional 15-day quarantine in the hopes of finally flattening the curve.
That being said, more workers - whether public or private - are all the more forced to work at home, converting what once was a mere bedroom or living area into their own personal workspace. While we’re still trying to flatten out the curve here in the Philippines, might as well give your space a little revamping situation to at least bring back some type of normalcy into your everyday life. With that, here are some of the best ways to upgrade your home office and turn it into a positive and productive environment:
Find A Space
Before anything else, make sure you find the best space in your home where you can actually work. As much as possible, try to look for a specific place where you’ll be getting less to no distractions. But also keep in mind that your comfortability is of utmost importance. Once you find a space with the perfect balance of comfortability and productivity, then you can start brainstorming about the different ways you can upgrade that space into your home office.
Here’s an important tip: if your work involves handling or budgeting the company’s money, you might want to work some place private - maybe an unused bedroom, if there’s any. Also, consider getting yourself a digital lock to secure all your office belongings in one place.
Consider Adding More Light
Consider adding more light to your personal workspace. You will most likely strain your eyes if you work with minimal or low lighting, which can lead to the deterioration of your eyesight and unproductivity over time. Other than that, low light conditions or rooms will make you feel drowsy and sad. Adding adequate lighting into your home office should then make you feel a tad bit lighter and accomplish tasks in no time. Also, try to set up your home office where you can receive as much natural light as possible, as this can also be good for your overall wellness.
Get Small, Potted Plants
Plants are proven to lift up one’s mood and keep your mentality at bay. Besides that, it’s also a perfect upgrade to any dull space [temporarily] turned into a home office! It provides you with enough oxygen while also livening up your interior, making you feel as if you’re still connected to nature even when you’re on lockdown and indoors. You don’t need extravagant plants. You can simply go for low maintenance ones that don’t need much sunlight.
Make Things Ergonomic
You may not have the time to go outside, especially during the quarantine period, but you can always make your office stuff ergonomic. For one, find a chair in which you can work comfortably in. If you think it’s going to be too stiff or sturdy, you can simply grab any throw pillow of your choice, sit or lean on it to make things more comfortable. In addition, not being able to touch the floor with your feet may leave you feeling strained and uncomfortable in the long run. But you can always fix this issue by piling up things like books or packs of paper, as well as using a small stool where you can rest your feet while working.
Other than that, it’s also ideal that you have your own computer keyboard tray where you can comfortably rest your wrists. Staying in front of the computer and typing all day can strain your wrists, so it’s best that you keep them comfortable all throughout your 8-hour shift.
Keep Things Organized
Working in an environment with excessive clutter can significantly affect your mood to function for the day. So make sure you keep all your stuff organized even at your home office. It’s beneficial that you get yourself a cable grommet, especially if you work with a lot of tech stuff like computers and laptops that require other things with many wires like a mouse, a set of speakers, and chargers.
Surround Yourself With Stuff That Spark Joy
Working at home can seem lonely during some days, which is why it’s highly important that you decorate the space around you and surround yourself with things that spark joy. A few hours into your day at the “office” may start to trigger mental fatigue. And each time you’re feeling this, you might want to give yourself a little break. Keep your mind off of work for a good 5-10 minutes and relax your mind. Look around all those trigger-happy stuff you’ve placed around the room; family photos, your first book, your favorite perfume, and a few more memorabilia.
Above all else, make your home office completely yours. Aside from being an efficient and productive working space, your home office should also be a perfect representation of who you are. Make it your own by adding a touch of your personality into it. Just because you treat it as your office away from the office doesn’t mean you can’t decorate it on your own.